Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 2:07am

Forget Tiger Mom, French moms are superior

Despite all our assumptions about the French, they might have a better understanding of how to raise children than we do in the U.S.

In politics, the French are often stereotyped as arrogant, unreliable and rude. They supposedly don't like anyone who is not French, and that means they don't like Americans. In reality, we could learn something from French parents.

Pamela Druckerman, an American author and mother of three, lived in France and found her self "struggling to control her toddler in a posh restaurant while small French children around her sat still, ate with cutlery and left their parents to chat calmly to each other." How many meals have you had with young kids with the only strategy beign to scarf your food down quickly before the little ones have a meltdown?

While Druckerman's flat in Paris was overrun by toys that were meant to occupy her children so she could get something done during the day, French moms seemed to have tidy homes with no baskets of books and buckets of blocks. Meals were different too. Druckerman's children ate the usual mac and cheese and finger foods, while French children were trying hearts of palm and tomato salad.

Something was obviously different between American and French parents. But what? Her book, "Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting," due out tomorrow, explores the differences between parents over there and here.

Photo: Screen grab from WSJ video of Druckerman talking about French parenting.

She found the French teach their children to be patient. Babies are not picked up when they start to cry. They're expected to wait until parents have finished a conversation before getting their attention. Many American parents think a "cry it out" approach is too mean, and might scar their children later in life. Druckerman says French babies she met slept through the night from two or three months old.

The French have a less child-centered approach, in which the adult’s needs at least as important as those of the child, she says. Parenting is just one part of a French mother’s life, not something that's all-consuming. French parents are less likely to follow their toddlers' every steps around a park or playground. No one would mistake them for helicopter parents, hovering over their kids.

Druckerman also points out, the French have public services that help with raising children. Parents there don't have to pay for pre-school, worry about health insurance or save for college. Many get monthly cash allotments wired directly into their bank accounts just for having kids.

The early buzz about how the French raise their children, is reminiscent of the "Tiger Mom" craze from a year ago when author Amy Chua described her strict parenting technique in "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." While she was criticized for calling her daughters names, placing a high priority on grades, and not letting the girls socialize, Chua told the Ross and Burbank show that book wasn't meant as a "how to guide" for parenting.

By Linda Thomas

Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 12:10pm

I fell in love again this weekend

Our Seahawks aren't playing in the Super Bowl, our Mariners have another rebuilding year ahead, we don't have the swiftest transportation system, the state and most of its cities have major budget problems too. But, man, it's beautiful here.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I posted one photo on my Facebook page, and soon had friends posting their shots from around the Northwest this beautiful weekend.

Jason Neuerburg's double exposure shot of the Olympic Mountains, from Golden Gardens

By Robert Cvancara

Dan Whittle, North Whidbey Island

Burrows Bay, by Dan Whittle

Mount Baker, Bruce Hawick

Newcastle Golf Club, Dave Barksdale

Bellevue's view of Seattle, by Scott Harder

You know those things I said about you a few weeks ago Seattle, when it was snowy, icy and we all had trouble getting around? I'm sorry. Can we forget that and move on? It wasn't you, it was me. You're perfect Pacific Northwest, don't change a thing.

By Linda Thomas

Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 8:35am

Olympia student video was made for 'laughs'

A video showing Olympia High School students stumped by the most basic questions about politics, current events and geography was edited to make students laugh. It's not an accurate reflection of students' intelligence, according to the video creators.

The two students who shot the video now admit it was heavily edited to include only a few correct answers, with the majority being silly answers they thought would be entertaining.

Problem is, the video was picked up by national websites, including the Huffington Post, and it made the school look bad.

The video, shot at Olympia High School, features classmates struggling to answer basic civics questions.

Here's an example of a question and answer exchange. When classmates were asked to name the Vice President of the United States, some replies included, "George Bush," "The bald guy - Clinton, right?" and "I don't know, somebody - bin Laden."

The video appears to show how poor the education system is, but it doesn't reflect the reality at Olympia High. The school, with about 1,700 students, has high test scores. 92 percent of 10th graders passed the state reading test last year, 95 percent passed the writing test, and 72 percent passed science. Those test scores are on par with Bellevue High School and other high-achieving schools.

Olympia High School is in the top 5 percent of schools in the state. So why did the students in the video look so dumb? Many didn't even know Olympia was the capital.

Olympia High School juniors Austin Oberbillig and Evan Ricks say they edited the video to get laughs around the school, and some students were trying to be funny by coming up with absurd answers.

They said in a statement, the video is not a fair representation of the student body:

"The video that we made as a school project has received a lot of unexpected media attention, and has been co-opted into an ongoing political debate that has become quite volatile. It should be known that we filmed for several hours, during which time many students gave correct responses; the film represents a short segment of the most entertaining answers. The bottom line is that we made the video to get a few laughs around our school, and it turned into something bigger. It was not our intent to polarize people, set off a firestorm, or get people to point fingers. Having said that, people will take from it what they will. We want to continue our work as student journalists in a productive manner."

The "Lunch Scholars" video has had more than half a million views on YouTube.

Photo: Screen grab of student Austin Oberbillig, who says he's learned a lesson from this experience.

By Linda Thomas

Thursday, February 2, 2012 @ 3:22pm

Paul Allen seeks Seattle World's Fair recipes

Billionaire Paul Allen must be feeling a bit nostalgic for the Seattle World's Fair. On Twitter, he asked if anyone has recipes of the unique food served at the 1962 extravaganza.

Allen was nine years old when he attended the Century 21 Exposition, commonly known as the the Seattle World's Fair. He says that event "partially inspired the EMP."

The fair saw the construction of the Space Needle and monorail, as well as several buildings that remain, including the Pacific Science Center. Allen's Experience Music Project, was designed to fit in with the fairground atmosphere, but was built nearly 40 years later.

Allen tweeted it would be fun to taste some of that 1962 World's Fair food again.

Saveur reports Maurice Vermesch first baked Belgian waffles, which are properly called Brussels waffles, at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. As is typical for us, Seattle didn't get its proper credit for introducing the waffles. After they were sold at the 1964-65 New York fair they became very popular. Vermersch's daughter Mariepaule wouldn't divulge her family's recipe, but the magazine thinks they've come very close:

1 3/4 cups self-rising flour, preferably Aunt Jemima brand
1 tsp. granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups of water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
4–6 cups whipped cream
2 pints ripe, in-season strawberries, hulled and halved
Confectioners' sugar

Heat an electric Belgian waffle iron until very hot. Meanwhile, combine flour and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups water, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Whisk in melted butter. Beat egg whites in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy, 1–2 minutes, then increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. Gently but thoroughly fold half the egg whites at a time into batter. Pour about 1 cup of the batter (or enough batter to fill pockets in iron) into hot waffle iron; immediately lower waffle iron lid and cook until waffles are golden-brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Separate sheet of waffles into individual waffles. Repeat process with remaining batter. To serve, put each hot waffle on a plate, top with a pile of whipped cream and strawberries, and sprinkle with some confectioners' sugar.

I'm going to imagine Paul Allen is rolling up his sleeves right now, putting on a geeky-adorable apron, and looking for his measuring cups so he can make these for himself.

"Sukiyaki and tempura" from Japan were considered exotic foods in 1962. I couldn't find the recipe for the type of Japanese tempura shrimp that were served.

The Space Needle's executive chef, Rene Schless, was busy 50 years ago preparing Saute of Beef, Burgundy. The original recipe starts with 40 pounds of beef, but this version is cut down to a family-sized serving for six:

2 lbs. beef for stew
3 T. shortening
1 onion, chopped
3 level T. flour
1 cup Burgundy
1 1/4 cups (1 10 1/2-oz.) can bouillon
1 (4-oz.) can mushrooms
2 T. chopped parsley
1 bay leaf, finely crushed
1/4 t. each powdered thyme, rosemary and marjoram
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. pepper
Pinch cloves
6 small white onions, parboiled
6 small carrots, parboiled
1 cup celery slices, parboiled
1 cup cooked peas (optional)

Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Brown meat in heated shortening. Add chopped onion and cook until wilted. Sprinkle four over meat, stirring until blended. Add wine, bouillon. undrained mushrooms, parsley and seasonings. Cover tightly and simmer until meat is almost tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Add parboiled onions, carrots and celery, continue cooking until meat and vegetables test done. Taste and add a little additional salt, if needed. Just before serving, add the cooked peas. Use 1/2 cup additional froth or water and garnish beef when served, with 1 cup sauteed fresh mushrooms instead of using canned mushrooms, if desired.

Ready for a nice drink to cap off all that work in the kitchen? Seattle Magazine’s cocktail expert A.J. Rathbun offers this vintage recipe from the top of the Space Needle, the Cloud Buster:

Ice Cubes
1 1/2 ounces vodka
3 ounces Champagne
Lemon twist, for garnish

Add the vodka and three ice cubes to a Champagne glass. Add the Champagne, stir briefly, garnish with the lemon twist.

Here are some more dazzling details about Seattle's World Fair

Feel free to reminisce with Allen. If you went to the Century 21 Exposition, what do you remember?

The Life magazine cover from February 9, 1962 captured our Space Needle under construction and wrote about the "Fabulous Fair in Seattle." Notice the other feature article about "Romney of Rambler, New Star in Politics."

That "new star" was George W. Romney. When he was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation he turned around the struggling firm by focusing all its efforts on the compact Rambler car. Romney became one of the first high-profile business executive to openly share his Mormon faith. He was the Governor of Michigan and he was a candidate in the 1968 GOP presidential race. Romney fell behind Richard Nixon in the polls and was not the nominee. Once elected president, Nixon appointed Romney Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Yes, he was the father of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

By Linda Thomas

Thursday, February 2, 2012 @ 10:37am

Food agency wants help paying 520 tolls

A non-profit agency that distributes millions of pounds of food every year to the needy in Western Washington, is now asking for help paying tolls on 520 bridge.

Food Lifeline says its delivery trucks must pass through the bridge toll as many as 16 times a week. They expect to pay about $3,000 in tolls this year. If they agency didn't have to spend that money on tolls, it could use it to provide 9,000 meals.

A local firefighters union has already offered to cover the costs of January tolls, which amounted to $250. Now they're looking for support in paying the remaining $2,750 for the year. If you want to help, here's a donation link.

Food Lifeline has a network of 300 food banks and meal programs in the region.

Northwest Harvest , which has 325 food banks, says they don't use the 520 bridge often because their warehouse is located in Kent. The amount their trucks paid for for tolling last month was only about $10.

Dennis Rwomwiyhu stacks food at a Food Lifeline warehouse in Seattle. Elaine Thompson/AP photo

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 @ 5:42pm

Overweight, bald guy seduces 120 women

You'll read a lot of stories about love and relationships in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. Can I interest you in the story of an overweight, bald, divorced Seattle guy, with an okay job, who says he's hooked up with 120 women in the past 18 months?

I was skeptical of that claim too. After talking with Aaron Smith for about an hour yesterday, I'm inclined to believe his story because he's discovered something about women that most guys don't know.

Smith describes himself as an ordinary guy who's not physically fit, isn't wealthy, and has never been smooth with the ladies.

"I'm the type of guy who you'd love to have watching your house or feeding your pets if you're gone," he says. "You'd love me as a next door neighbor. I've been called cuddly. I'm every girl's best friend. I'm the average nice guy, but not the type of guy you'd say, 'Oh, I want to date him.'"

He was also lonely.

Loneliness was the centerpiece of his life. It was with him everywhere he went. He tried all the dating sites, but had no luck. Then he found himself searching on Craigslist through the "casual encounters" forum.

Craigslist, the online classified site that allows people to sell everything from used furniture and cars to real estate, also offers services that are coyly worded ads for prostitution. Smith says the more legitimate requests men posted started with, "I want" or "I need" or "I'm looking for."

"That wasn't working for me or my friends, because nobody cares what I want or what I need. So I changed my point of view on this and started creating a persona that actually had something to offer. Here's what I'm offering you, the woman. Here's a type of experience that I wish to offer tonight," Smith says. "I got better at it as I started to understand a lot of things about women."

This is a guy who tells me he'd only slept with four women by the age of 35, and now he was with women whenever he wanted, and most of the women were well-educated, attractive with good jobs.

What had this shlumpy guy figured out? Most men treat women in one of two ways. Men either think women are to be put on a pedestal and taken care of, in an idealized Ozzie and Harriet kind of way from the 1950s, or they "treat them a little rough and be the bad boy because women like bad boys," he says.

Smith discovered a way to get women by becoming the guy who they could share their fantasies with. Whether that's just sitting on a park bench by the water and having him listen to her, or acting on a deep desire she's never shared with anyone else.

"If you can tap into a fantasy that a woman has that she isn't getting, that she probably isn't voicing, maybe it's something that's so private to her that she would never feel comfortable telling it to anyone in her social circles, but it's there," says Smith. "In this day and age women have the power to get what they want, and I made that easier for some of them."

He discovered powerful women, who make decisions all day long, have fantasies that involve not having to be in charge. Women who feel like they have no say in their work, have fantasies that involve being in control. He met adventurous women who liked to try things they didn't feel comfortable asking for.

"I found that every woman wants something sexually that is very specific," Smith says. "The more educated and successful she is, the less likely she is to share that secret with anyone. If you can figure out what she wants, then present yourself as being the one man who best understands her needs and can fill them, she's yours. Even if she's way out of your league."

Isn't that using women? Smith doesn't think so. He believes women hold all the cards in a relationship.

He also met a lot of married women who were unhappy. He stayed away from them, not wanting to encounter a jealous husband.

Smith's friends encouraged him to share all the insight he was getting from being with dozens of women. So, he has. Smith has a new book called "Secrets of the Craigslist Conqueror."

I asked Smith to share a picture of himself, and he didn't want to do that out of respect for the women he's hooked up with. He says many of them have become good friends and he wants to protect their privacy. He's also suspended surfing Craigslist for encounters because he's developed a serious relationship with one of the women he met.

Looking for something a little classier than Craigslist dating? There's a new online dating site called Sparkology that is an invitation only site. Only college graduates may join, and the men are held to an even higher standard. Men must be verified graduates of U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 universities, top 15 liberal arts schools or top international schools. University of Washington men, you're in.

Photo by Michael McWeeney

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 @ 5:39pm

Miss Washington on poverty, gay marriage and Toddlers & Tiaras

What is it like to be on a national stage, competing against other gorgeous women, hoping your talent and beauty will stand out, then suddenly hearing the dream is over?

Listen to this report

Miss Washington, Brittney Henry, was not picked as a semi-finalist in the Miss America pageant. Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler, won the crown.

I sat down with Henry to talk about everything from pageant tears and poverty to same-sex marriage and the reality show "Toddlers & Tiaras."

The high-energy scene in Las Vegas a few weeks ago began, as is the tradition, with contestants introducing themselves.

"From the state that brought you Starbucks, you're welcome, I'm Brittney Henry, Miss Washington."

With her long blonde hair, perfect body, and sparkling smile, Brittney stood with equally stunning young women from every other state wondering, will I be a finalist?

"It's so nerve-racking. Your stomach is in a knot just waiting and it's on live TV so that heightens all the emotions," she says.

When Brittney's name was not called, she was "numb."

"I was sad, but I still had a big smile on my face," says Henry. "I was able to accept it, but there were a lot of girls up there with me who were crying and I was able to say to them 'hold it together, we're on national TV.'"

Holding it together has become Henry's specialty. It's something she learned growing up poor in Pierce County. She was raised in Edgewood, which was an affluent area, but her family didn't have any money. She saw other kids around her had nice clothing. She did not. When they talked about expensive things they were going to do or buy, she just listened and "learned how to hide" her financial situation.

By high school, she had become an expert at blending in. She was quiet and never spoke up for herself, even when her friends in class discussed the "leeches on the welfare system," not knowing Henry was "only able to survive" because of food stamps.

That wasn't all she was hiding. She was failing classes too. She took algebra three times.

"In one instance I failed because there was a domestic violence issue happening in my house the night before the final," says Henry. "I held my baby sister in the closet while we called 9-1-1. I didn't sleep at all that night, I showed up to school the next day, tried to act normal, and failed the test."

There are 40,000 Brittney Henrys in Washington today. 40,000 children living in poverty in our state. Even though she didn't become Miss America, she will continue talking to teachers about the impact being poor has on a student's ability to learn. She also talks to students, telling them they don't have to live in shame, with a lack of confidence, like she did.

Henry has a bright future, and has already inspired her mother to complete a nursing degree. Her baby sister is now a teenager and she has another sister who's a teacher in West Seattle. Henry's father died of a crystal meth drug overdose two years ago.

"I never dreamed of big things for my life or becoming anything special," she says.

Although Brittney didn't make it to the final round on the Miss America pageant, when a judge asks a controversial question that forces the young women to think on their feet, I decided to put her on the spot.

The Washington State Legislature is expected to pass a bill allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. Do you support the law?

"I'm pro-equality and equal opportunity for all people. I believe that marriage is one of those issues that should be a legal right granted to all citizens regardless of their sexual orientation," she responds.

Now, a pop culture question. The TV reality show "Toddlers & Tiaras" follows the world of child beauty pageants, showing how moms and dads prepare girls for glitz competitions. In order to compete the girls, some as young as a few months old, wear expensive dresses, wigs, false teeth called flippers, and spray tans. What do you think of these pageants?

"I think it's really sad. I would never put my children in a situation like that," Henry says. "Toddlers and Tiaras is way over the top and I think those pageants can really effect the girls' body image and self-esteem in a negative way."

Brittney Henry played the Celtic fiddle in the recent Miss America competition and had the highest talent score for a non-finalist, which earned her a scholarship from the Miss America organization.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 @ 9:05am

Photo: The shot before 'Abbey Road'

Making the rounds on Facebook, is something that intrigues me more than the usual viral video of the day.

Perhaps the most iconic image by The Beatles, is the four walking across 'Abbey Road." Unseen by many, the site fstoppers.com posted the photo taken prior to the shot that we all have come to know and love. They were oblivious to the importance of the image which is about to be captured. Moments later, the cover of Abbey Road was made and sealed into history.

Now I want to know who that lady is? Any Beatles fans have an idea?

The photo most of us have seen below was taken August 8, 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. Photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic.